A Perfectly Charmings Halloween
by Lilac Moon
Summary: Set in the Perfectly Charmings verse. Almost a year after the final battle, Snow and Charming are settled in their new house with their toddlers, Emma and Neal. But Snow realizes they don't have many fall decorations to go with it. The Charming family, Regina, and Henry enjoy decorating for Halloween and all the festivities together after a family shopping trip.


**Prompt from loboselinaistrash. Set in the Perfectly Charmings verse. She asked for the Charming family going shopping for spooky Halloween decorations. I decided to set this on the first Halloween after they moved into the farmhouse. Emma and Neal are toddlers.**

A Perfectly Charmings Halloween

Fall. It had to be one of Snow's favorite seasons, possibly because fall in Maine and New England in general was especially gorgeous. She loved the crisp smell in the air and the canvas of colors that painted the landscape. Storybrooke was no exception to this rule. The vibrant colors and crisp air were only the beginning of what she loved about this season though. Naturally, like many, she loved the fall foods. She didn't overdo it by going crazy on pumpkin flavored everything like some, but she enjoyed her fair share. Especially since apples weren't something she was able to enjoy. A bit of pumpkin spice added to her cinnamon and cocoa really did the trick to get her in the mood for this season. And there was nothing quite like making homemade pumpkin bars and bread to truly make it feel like fall.

This fall though felt special though. During the curse, she had always appreciated autumn, but never had anyone to share it with. By the time Emma came to town, it was almost winter and by the next fall, they had been embroiled in conflict.

But this year, Storybrooke was peaceful and had been since the final battle the previous winter. This year they could actually enjoy the fall season and more importantly Halloween. With two toddlers now, she and David had discussed it and were in complete agreement. As with most holidays, they planned to go all out. Perhaps it was because they had missed everything with Emma the first time, but they decided they didn't want to waste the opportunity gifted to them by the result of the Final Battle. There were times, of course, where they missed their grown daughter. But oh, how they were truly enjoying the do-over they had received. Snow was determined that her children would have nothing but fond memories of each holiday and grow up enjoying them. She knew enough about Emma's first upbringing that it hadn't been like that for her. That was changing and they had already laughed together about being those parents that would have the most decorated house of any and be known by everyone for it.

So when October first rolled around, Snow had gone up to the attic that evening to assess what decorations she had brought from the loft and found one small box of disappointment.

As Mary Margaret, she had meagerly decorated for the holidays, but when it had only been her, there hadn't been need for much, plus the loft had limited space. Not to mention that everything in that box was a bit sad and also twenty-eight years old. It just wasn't going to do, so she called David up to haul the box down and out to the trash.

"You're throwing it all away?" he had asked.

"I didn't pick any of it...we didn't pick any of it," she had replied.

"It's a sad box of lonely Mary Margaret's even sadder decorations and I want it gone. We're going shopping tomorrow," she had declared. He had simply smiled at her and with a kiss to her hair, he did as she asked, ridding them of the box that basically only reminded her of a time when she was alone.

* * *

The next day, being Saturday, they had decided to make an entire day of it. They invited Regina and Henry, as well as Zelena and little Robin too. The day began bright and early at the Storybrooke pumpkin patch, despite Zelena's complaints about Charmings and their God-awful penchant for being up far too early and declaring that not even pumpkin spice lattes were worth this. She changed her tune later though when Robin's eyes lit up in wonder by all the pumpkins and festive decorations, though she had plenty of quips about any decor depicting green witches.

Emma and Neal had been just as excited by all the festivities as well and soon, they had four pumpkins loaded in the truck. Regina was enjoying her third cup of apple cider when Henry had come back with his. It was so big that he and David had turned it on its side and were rolling it back to the truck.

"Did you literally look for the biggest one?" she playfully chided her son.

"Mom...I need this pumpkin. It's truly worthy of the title Great Pumpkin, don't you think?" he joked. She could only shake her head and ruffle his hair.

After a successful trip to the pumpkin patch was complete, it was off to town to buy new decorations for their new house. Fortunately, they wouldn't have to settle for the slim pickings at the Pharmacy, for an aspiring entrepreneur had opened a large craft store in town and it was full of so many holiday decorations and items that it was practically bursting.

That suited Snow just fine and soon, they had a cart heaping with decorations. As David was off corralling their little ones, she was looking at lights to string up on the house. There was strings of orange, purple, and green, along with strings of Jack-O-Lanterns too. She put a few boxes in the cart and turned to see someone in a scary mask right next to her. She jumped in fright and let out a startled yelp. David removed the mask, as his face was aglow with laughter.

"David!" she scolded, as she playfully smacked his arm, which only made him laugh harder. Emma and Neal giggled and squealed from their place in the double stroller, clearly deciding that Daddy was funny too.

"Sorry...I couldn't resist," he apologized.

"Oh that's fine...but I'll get you back later," she promised, giving him a poignant look.

"I hope so…" he replied with hope in his voice. She bit her bottom lip and turned away to go back to looking at decorations. It was really difficult to stay mad at him. Even when he was being obnoxious, he was adorable...and sexy. She heard her children squealing in laughter again and looked back, only to see her husband entertaining them with more antics and noisemakers that were around. Gods...she loved that man and she loved watching him with their babies. Charming the father was just as adorable and sexy as Charming the husband.

"Hey...what about this for the porch?" he asked, as he held up a particularly scaring looking skeleton decoration.

"I don't know...that might be too scary for the kids. I don't want them to be afraid to come to our house for candy," she answered.

"It's a little scary, but this is way scarier. You want to scare people away, just put this out," he joked, as he held up a Cruella De Vil decoration.

"Why is there a Cruella De Vil decoration? She has nothing to do with Halloween," Snow said, thinking it was odd and out of place.

"Oh no, she's terrifying, thus perfect for Halloween. Seriously," he said, as he looked at it in disdain and visibly shuddered. She laughed.

"Poor baby...she did scar you, didn't she?" she cooed.

"She did…" he agreed, as their faces were only inches apart and she kissed him tenderly. Emma made a noise of protest and they grinned, as their lips parted.

"She still has impeccable timing," he joked, as he pecked her on the lips again. This time Neal made a noise to get their attention.

"Mmm...I think Mommy and Daddy will have to pick this up later tonight," Snow purred.

"I'm going to hold you to that, my darling," he replied.

"You better," she said, as she went back to picking out decorations, while he got their babies a snack to appease them. They were getting cranky and would need naps soon, so they finished up and loaded the truck with their almost comical amount of purchases, before heading home to the farm.

* * *

Once they got home, their toddlers went down for a nap, leaving them to unload their haul from the stores. They began to unpack it all and managed to get the inside of their home looking very festive. Then they cooked dinner together and fed their little ones. He cleaned the kitchen, while she proceeded to bathe their rambunctious children.

They decided then that tomorrow would be the day for decorating the outside of their house and settled down together with a movie. Emma and Neal didn't make it all the way through the classic Hocus Pocus, but they were content to hold their sleeping babies together and cuddle, while they finished it.

After the movie, they put their tired toddlers to bed and were left with the rest of the evening to themselves. Naturally, this, as it did many nights, led to amorous activities.

As always, they were left in awe of each other by the physical expression of their love and lay entwined in their bed, sated in the afterglow. What they had was true, eternal love and they knew time would never dull their hunger for each other. If anything, time would only strengthen that true, eternal love. It was still true, now more than ever, that happiness wasn't always exactly what was often imagined and for that, Snow was truly glad, because this life was far better than anything they previously imagined.

* * *

The next morning, after a Sunday morning pancake breakfast, the decorating of the outside of the farmhouse commenced. Regina and Henry joined them, as she offered to string up the lights on the house, stating that she didn't want any of them risking broken bones by foolishly using a ladder. It was times like these that it definitely paid off having a magic user in the family.

Emma and Neal were mostly entertained by Henry, who walked around the yard with them, careful to keep them out of the way. Their little eyes were wide with wonder, as they got the inflatables up in the yard and had a good laugh over the green witch one that they were sure Zelena would roll her eyes at later. With the lights and inflatable witches, ghosts, black cats and pumpkins up, next came spooky cobweb material for their porch, complete with rubber spiders, which Snow thought were a bit freaky, but for some reason, her children seemed to like them. They finished by lining the walkway and driveway with pumpkin lights, which they staked in the ground.

By the time they were done, it was getting dark and once it was, they all stood before the house for the moment of truth.

"Ready?" David called, as he received a chorus of affirmations and he flipped the switch. The house lit up in Halloween colors, as did their inflatables in the yard. Emma and Neal cooed and awed at the sights, as their parents held them.

"Awesome," Henry confirmed, as Regina put her arm around him.

"We did good...but it's getting chilly. We should go inside for dinner," Snow mentioned.

"Can we carve our pumpkins after dinner?" Henry asked.

"Sure...but I think we'll let the little ones use the finger paints on theirs," David replied, as they filed inside.

"You know, I've never been one for Halloween, but that was a lot of fun," Regina mentioned. Snow smiled.

"It was...we're glad you were here," she said. Regina smiled.

"Me too...but I almost forgot. I picked up one more decoration," she said, as it appeared in her hand in a puff of purple smoke. Snow cackled, as the Cruella De Vil Halloween decoration appeared.

"No…" David refuted, as Regina grinned in amusement.

"What's the matter? You don't like it?" she asked innocently.

"That thing is too scary," he argued.

"Which is the point of Halloween," Regina reminded. David visibly shuddered again, as he took the kids into the kitchen.

"He still visibly shudders...that will never not be funny," she mentioned. Snow laughed.

"Come on...let's go carve and paint those pumpkins," she said, as they followed David into the kitchen.

"Can we eat first? I'm starved…" Henry complained. Regina smirked.

"My teenager with a hollow leg. How about we order some pizza?" she suggested.

"Sounds great...I'll go call and then we can carve the Death Star out of one of those pumpkins. I saw this awesome one online," Henry said. Regina smiled, as she watched him go and then went into the kitchen. Emma and Neal were already covered in paint and putting their tiny hand prints all over their pumpkins. Snow put her hand to her heart, as she watched her husband help them put more paint on their hands. David looked up at her and they shared a smile. Fall may have been Snow's favorite season and she liked all the things that went along with it, but her favorite thing, every day of every season, was her family...


End file.
